THE ASSESSMENT OF COMPETITION BETWEEN SEALS AND COMMERCIAL FISHERIES IN THE NORTH SEA AND THE ANTARCTIC1

Most of the exploited fish stocks in the North Sea are also used as a food supply by a number of seal species; the same is true for some fish and invertebrate stocks in the Antarctic—although the fisheries there are, at present, much smaller than those in the North Sea. The information needed for a critical assessment of such interactions is reviewed. Using existing techniques it is possible to estimate the quantity and size-classes of each fish or invertebrate species consumed by seals and to compare this with the commercial catch. If fishing mortality is known, these estimates can be used to calculate the level of mortality imposed by the seals. However, a realistic evaluation requires information on the distribution and movements of the fish, the seals' feeding effort, and the fisheries effort in time and space. At present it is difficult or impossible to obtain this information, but recent technological developments in telemetry equipment will soon make it feasible. To assess the economic effects of changes in seal numbers on the fishery, or the ecological effects of changes in fisheries effort on seal populations, requires additional information on the responses of the fishery and the seals to changes in fish abundance, and of the commercial market to changes in the supply of fish.     

Phenetic,biogeographical, and evolutionary study ofOrnithogalum subg.Heliocharmos (Hyacinthaceae) in the western Mediterranean basin

A macromorphological study is made on taxa of the genusOrnithogalum subg.Heliocharmos in North Africa, Spain, and France. The results obtained are consistent with data from cytogenetics, reproductive biology and strategies of reproduction. They allow the retention of two species:O. algeriense andO. umbellatum. A biogeographical and phylogenetic interpretation of the subgenus is proposed for the western Mediterranean. Theoretical views on phenetics are discussed.     

Reactions of the fauna on the bark of trees to the frequency of fires in a North American savanna

Summary The arthropod communities living on the bark of the oak species Quercus macrocarpa and Q. ellipsoidalis were investigated in a North American oak savanna. Differences were found in the community structure of the arthropods living on the bark of these two tree species, although they have the same fissured bark type. In the North American oak savanna ecosystem the most important disturbance factor is fire, which maintains species richness. Highest numbers of species and specimens were found at moderately disturbed sites. Three main ecological groups of arthropods living on the bark of trees can be distinguished in relation to the degree of disturbance: (1) Inhabitants of bark of trees restricted to undisturbed sites: they do not occur in fire-disturbed areas; (2) Inhabitants of bark of trees adapted to a moderate degree of disturbance: many species occur in high numbers only in moderately disturbed areas; and (3) Specialist inhabitants of bark of trees in heavily disturbed areas. The number of specimens of these species increases per trunk with the frequency of disturbance.     

Tissue culture response of Beta germplasm: callus induction and plant regeneration

Callus cultures of 18 sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris) lines, two accessions of B. maritima and a B. macrocarpa accession were initiated from aseptically germinated seeds. Plant regeneration through organogenesis was obtained either on MS or B5 medium containing various concentrations and combinations of naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA) and abscisic acid (ABA). Genotypes differed in their abilities of callus formation and regeneration: seven out of 18 sugarbeet lines, and an accession of B. maritima were capable of regenerating plantlets. Our data also indicated that 2 M TIBA promoted morphogenesis from callus culture in the presence of 5 M BAP.     

Ophiostoma novo-ulmi sp. nov., causative agent of current Dutch elm disease pandemics

The aggressive subgroup of the Dutch elm disease pathogen Ophiostoma ulmi (Buism.) Nannf. syn. Ceratocystis ulmi (Buism.) Moreau is named as a new species, O. novo-ulmi, and is thereby separated from the old non-aggressive subgroup, which is retained as O. ulmi. O. novo-ulmi differs from O. ulmi in colony morphology, growth rate, optimum temperature for growth, perithecial neck length, pathogenicity to elm, bark colonising ability, cerato-ulmin protein production, synnemetal and protoperithecial production, mating type frequency, protein and isozyme polymorphisms, mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA polymorphisms, and mitochondrial DNA size. In addition, a strong unidirectional fertility barrier operates between the two species, while their hybrids show remarkable variation, poor fitness, and many are infertile. These aspects are summarised. New information on perithecial dimensions is presented. O. ulmi is redefined and a neotype designated. The status of the Eurasian and North American races of O. novo-ulmi is currently under investigation.Abbreviations EAN Eurasian race - NAN North American race     

Genetical and biochemical comparisons of alcohol dehydrogenase isozymes from Anastrepha fraterculus and A. obliqua (Diptera: Tephritidae): Evidence for gene duplication

The electrophoretic patterns of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) from Anastrepha fraterculus and A. obliqua were studied. Two loci were found to code for the enzyme in A. fraterculus, and three in A. obliqua. In both species, all isozymes were active in third-instar larvae. A cationic isozyme (Adh-1) was active mainly in the visceral fat body of both species. In A. fraterculus, the locus had an anionic polymorphic isozyme (Adh-3) that was detected in the parietal fat body. In addition to these two loci, a third locus for an anionic isozyme (Adh-2), which was active in the digestive tube of larvae, was present in A. obliqua and probably resulted from gene duplication. For both species, multiple forms of the isozymes are formed by binding of an NAD-carbonyl compound, as in Drosophila melanogaster. Both larvae and early pupae of A. obliqua had almost twice the specific ADH activity as A. fraterculus. The ethanol content of the host fruit infested with A. obliqua (red mombim) was also higher than that of the host fruit infested with A. fraterculus (guava).This research was supported by grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnologico (CNPq-PIG 40.2486/82).     

Dramatic founder effects in Amerindian mitochondrial DNAs

Southwestern American Indian (Amerindian) mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) were analyzed with restriction endonucleases and found to contain Asian restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) but at frequencies very different from those found in Asia. One rare Asian HincII RFLP was found in 40% of the Amerindians. Several mtDNAs were discovered which have not yet been observed on other continents and different tribes were found to have distinctive mtDNAs. Since the mtDNA is inherited exclusively through the maternal lineage, these results suggest that Amerindian tribes were founded by small numbers of female lineages and that new mutations have been fixed in these lineages since their separation from Asia.     

Taxonomy and biogeography of the fiddler crabs (Ocypodidae: Genus Uca) of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of eastern North America

Fifteen species of fiddler crabs are reported for eastern North America between Massachusetts and Quintana Roo, Mexico. Thirteen occur in the United States and 11 in Mexico, with eight in common to the two countries. Of 13 species in the Gulf of Mexico, five are endemic and a sixth is restricted largely to the peninsulas of Florida and Yucatan. The status of U. rapax in the northern Gulf remains to be resolved. Range limits of most species approximate one or the other of two sets of intersecting thermal and geological boundaries that subdivide the Gulf of Mexico along north-south and east-west axes. Species belonging to subgenus Minuca tend to replace one another at the thermally-controlled Carolinian-Caribbean marine biotic boundary across the Florida peninsula and northern Gulf. However, only U. minax of all the North American fiddler crabs exhibits the classical disjunct Carolinian distribution, and this appears basically to reflect the discontinuous distribution of temperate salt marshes that are the habitat of the species. Distributions of species belonging to subgenus Celuca adhere for the most part to the subdivision of the Gulf into western terrigenous and eastern carbonate sedimentary provinces. The northern transition occurs in the vicinity of Apalachee Bay and the southern at Laguna de Terminos. A third distributional pattern is shown by U. subcylindrica , a specialized endemic species of the hypersaline Laguna Madre system of the western Gulf. The level of endemism in the fiddler crabs is relatively high in comparison with that of other marine groups within the Gulf of Mexico. This may be a consequence of the adaptations of fiddler crabs as specialized deposit feeders to regional differences in climatic and edaphic characteristics of a marginally marine upper shore habitat. The distributional patterns of the endemics could prove useful in reconstructing palaeoecological events of evolutionary significance within the Gulf of Mexico.